28/12/2013 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon. Nearly 5,000 homes remain without electricity across

the UK after the recent storms. One of Britain's biggest power

distributors, UK Power Networks, has denied that it has been too slow to

reconnect people who lost their electricity and has promised to

almost triple compensation for people, some of whom lost power

before Christmas. Richard Lister is in the village of Yalding in Kent.

The good news is that the lights are slowly coming back on. You can see

that just down the road. Engineers have prepared all power lines

damaged in the storm and there are now going house-to-house helping

householders who may have lingering problems caused by water damage to

their electrical circuits. For those people flooded out of course they

still have a lot of work ahead. Everything will have to go. Sue

picks through her good coverage deciding what she can keep and what

has to be thrown away. The floodwaters were knee deep in her

house and she still has no power. This is the freezer room. There is

one freezer full up to the top which I am going to have to throw away. It

is heartbreaking. The weather has cleared today giving engineers the

chance to get to work in earnest. But it has been a slow process and

people are fed up. There is too much emphasis on the right people getting

the right help and not real people getting real help.

Kent county council leader Paul Carter has been taking the brunt of

some of that frustration but he says there is little more they have done.

The emergency teams have worked well together and have been working since

Christmas Eve and all over business coordinating the evacuation of

homes. East Yalding has been flooded

before, most recently in 2000. Villagers are asking white blood

defences have not been improved. We had a similar event in 2000. You

could not move in this village for fire and emergency services. We had

everything, a bad situation was made easier by the support we got. We

have no support here at all. In those parts of the UK where the

storm that damage was worst, power is slowly coming back on. But

engineers have struggled with falling trees and blocked roads. In

Northern Ireland some 350 people still have no electricity. It is the

same story for 1500 people in North Wales and 1600 in Cumbria. Back in

Kent this woman's seller is underwater. Pumping it out is one

more job to do on a long and miserable list. Most people here

will probably get their power back today or tomorrow.

But the company says it could be the end of the week before some

properties in more isolated areas get their electricity back. Everyone

is now braced for Monday when we could expect more torrential rain on

this already saturated ground. And the possibility of more flooding to

come. Fresh efforts begin this afternoon

to resolve some of the issues still causing divisions in Northern

Ireland. Negotiations chaired by the former American diplomat, Richard

Haass, broke down on Christmas Eve with no agreement on parades, flags

and past violence. Our Correspondent Claire Savage is in Belfast.

Is this a hopeful sign? Some think it is. Dr Haass and Meghan

O'Sullivan are to meet with the five main parties this afternoon to

discuss those outstanding issues. What are they? Flags, parades and

dealing with the legacy of the troubles. Speaking a few months ago,

Dr Haass said this could be the last chance for all the five parties to

reach agreement on those outstanding issues. They discussed into the

early hours of Christmas Eve to try to resolve the issue and they are

back again today. Dr Haass added that the Good Friday Agreement,

signed 15 years ago, brought an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland

and this draft that is on the table could yield on the piece. It is

understood that discussions are due to start this afternoon at around

2:30pm. The talks will resume again early on Monday morning at six

o'clock, an early start for all the parties involved. Dr Haass once all

of these issues to be resolved before the New Year as he has other

engagements. England's cricketers have suffered

yet another batting collapse and look to be heading for a fourth

straight defeat in the Ashes. At the start of day three in Melbourne

they'd been odds-on to score their first Test win of the series. But a

catastrophic second innings, in which they lost their last five

wickets for six runs, left Australia needing 201 to win with all ten

wickets remaining. From the MCG, Dan Roan reports.

English cricket may be under a cloud but here today prospects seemed

brighter. With soaring temperatures, there was the chance

to turn up the heat on their opponents. England needed just one

more wicked to press home their advantage. But Australia added 40

priceless runs. Frustration at boiling point when Adams was caught

with 65. The England lead was still useful but now they had to build on

it. Alastair Cook set about the task fluently. But England were about to

collapse. Breast Alastair Cook trapped by Mitchell Johnson and then

a spell of three wickets for one month as panic set in. England were

left in crisis. Just as in the first innings, everything seemed to depend

on Kevin Pietersen. He was taking no chances, a furious Johnson let him

know exactly what he thought as the bad blood but admired this series

resurfaced. But England were about to outdo themselves in this tour of

horror shows. Nathan lion with five victims including Kevin Pietersen.

Australia could not have made a better start in chasing their 231

run target, reaching 30 without loss at the close. England now in grave

danger of going 4- nil down. After arguably their worst batting display

the series England have turned a promising position into a perilous

one. Australia still have work to do but England may just have squandered

their best chance of avoiding of whitewash.

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